Effective Treatment for Arthritis

What does arthritis mean?
Arthritis is derived from the Greek words "Arthros" meaning joint & "itis" meaning inflammation. Any inflammation/ irritation/wear & tear of the joint is called arthritis. In the initial stages arthritis results in pain & stiffness of the joint. Later on the muscles around the joint weaken & become smaller in size. Towards the end, the joint loses most of its useful movement & the bone develops deformities.
What are the causes of arthritis?
Broadly speaking arthritis is of two main types; inflammatory arthritis & non inflammatory arthritis. The more common non-inflammatory arthritis is also known as osteoarthritis is due to the age related wear & tear of the joint cartilage. The less common inflammatory arthritis is due to the body producing antibodies to the joint cartilage. The body reacts against its own tissue & causes widespread damage to the joints.
Common types of Arthritis

• Osteoarthritis
• Rheumatoid Arthritis

What are the symptoms of osteoarthritis?
lt depends on the joint affected. If knee is affected, it causes pain in the knee, with decreased ability to walk & run. Stiffness of the knees makes simple things like getting into a chair or getting out of it difficult. Stair climbing also becomes increasingly difficult. In the spine, pain is brought on by bending. Sometimes the tiny nerve endings that branch off from the spinal cord & travel in various directions can get pinched by excess bone formation that is seen with arthritis. This results in numbness & tingling in the arms & legs depending on the area affected (neck vs low back). Hip arthritis makes sitting difficult &there is pain especially in the night. Finger arthritis makes down fine things difficult like turning a key, holding a pen or a spoon to eat.

What is osteoarthritis?
It is the most common form of arthritis affecting our joints. Really speaking it is not a disease at all ! It is simply a manifestation of ageing. As me grow older our joints undergo wear & tear. Normally each of our joints has a cushion of variable thickness at its ends called, the cartilage. As we age, the thickness of the cartilage decreases, forcing raw bone to come in contact with raw bone, thereby leading to pain. Our joints have another protective mechanism called the "synovial fluid”. In our youth, healthy thick viscous synovial fluid is produced which adds to this Iubrication. As we age, our joints produce copious amounts of less viscous watery synocial fluid that is Iess efficient in lubricating the joint.The reason why we develop arthritis is not fully known. Almost any joint can be effected, the commonest being the knees, hips, neck, lower back & the fingers.

How is osteoarthritis diagnosed?

Usually through a good clinical history & detailed examination, one can diagnose osteoarthritis. Sometimes blood tests may be required to distinguish if from the more serious inflammatory arthritis. X rays will be required in all instances to assess the stage of the disease.Very rarely MRl may also be required in addition to study the soft tissues around the joint.

How is osteoarthritis treated?
Once the smooth cartilage of the joint is destroyed, it cannot be replaced by any known modern treatment. However, if one keeps the muscles around a joint strong through exercise, the ill effects of the lost cartilage can be minimised.

Physiotherapy is the cornerstone of treatment of osteoarthritis. In the knee it means doing what we call the quadriceps & hamstring exercises, for the hip the muscle on the side & back or the hip (abdurtors and gluteus maximus) need to be strengthened, in  the spine the muscles on either side of the centre (paraspinal muscles) are strengthened & for the fingers, handgrip exercises are prescribed, Water based exercise (swimming) are far superior to land based exercises for osteoarthritis of almost any joint. Immersion in water makes our body lighter & restores the lost flexibility to our muscles and tendons. Light resistance training with weights/ theraband is also recommended to increase muscle strength. Weight loss helps immensely by offloading the sore joints. Applying hot packs helps soothe the muscles around the joint. For acute onset pains, Ice packs are
recommended. Application of an ointment or a spray always helps, The physical therapist also use ultrasound, tiny pulses of electric current (TENS) and a special form of deep heat to further help heal the pain. You should take simple precautions like not doing activities like squatting & cross legged sitting. Using a stick for knee and hip arthritis is also very helpful

Anti-nfIammatory medicines (loosely called pain killers) are also prescribed judiciously for a short period to help relieve the pain & inflammation of the sore joints. Prolonged intake of these medicines is harmful for the heart, stomach & kidneys. In case you feel the need to take these medicines on a daily basis, you may be suffering from an advanced stage of the disease & might benefit from a joint replacement, Collagen powders are increasingly being used for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee. They are contained in a sachet & are meant to be dissolved in a cup of lukewarm water & gulped down on a daily basis for 3-6 months. They have a role to play in early arthritis, once the disease is advanced, they have little to no therapeutic effect.

Newer therapies like willow bark extract are about to enter the market & will usher in an exciting phase of naturally occurring plant based pain relief medications. These medicines relieve pain & unlike the mainstream painkillers, they are virtually devoid of all major side effects.

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Treatment for Ankle Pain

There are many structures present at the anterior aspect of the ankle. These structures are often susceptible to injury. Common injuries and conditions around the anterior ankle.

1) Anterolateral Impingement. Painful limitation of full range of ankle motion due to soft tissue or bony pathology. Soft tissue thickening commonly seen in athletes with prior trauma that extends into the ankle joint.
2) Arthritis of the ankle joint. It is commonly the result of prior injury or inflammation to the ankle joint. It can usually be diagnosed with an examination and x-ray.
3) Osteochondritis Dissecans of the Talus. It is chip type fracture that usually occurs with severe ankle sprains. It causes pain, swelling and stiffness of the joint.   
4) Tibialis Anterior Tendonitis. It is an overuse condition common in runners. It is a common injury that usually accompanies anterior shin splints.

 Treatment
Medications to ease pain, relieve inflammation, slow bone loss, modify the course of an inflammatory disease or prevent joint damage are an important part of treatment for many ankle problems. The medications used to treat arthritis and other problems that affect the ankles will depend largely on the form of arthritis or related condition you have.
Some of the medications used:
Nonsteroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are used to help ease arthritis pain and inflammation. They are used for all forms of arthritis.
Corticosteroids: These quick-acting drugs, similar to the cortisone made by your own body, are used to control inflammation. If inflammation is due to a systemic inflammatory disease, doctor may prescribe oral corticosteroids. If inflammation is limited to one or a few joints, doctor may inject a corticosteroid preparation directly into the joint.
Disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) are drugs that work slowly to modify the course of inflammatory disease. Different DMARDs may be useful for a number of different forms of arthritis, including rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and psoriatic arthritis, all of which can affect the ankles. 
Surgery:
Arthroscopic surgery of ankle gives faster recovery owing to less pain and earlier mobilization. Ankle arthroscopy enables the doctor to directly visualize the ankle joint surface. It is performed under general or regional anesthesia.

Dr. Raju Easwaran, is the best orthopaedic surgeon in New Delhi. He is very trusted in arthroscopy, joint replacement surgery and all orthopaedic related problem and provides the best ankle pain treatment.

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Get Relief from Ankle Pain

Ankle pain points out to any type of pain or discomfort in the ankles. This pain could be caused due to an injury, like a sprain or by a medical condition such as arthritis. An ankle sprain is one of the most common causes of ankle pain. Once healed, the sprained ankle is sometimes permanently weaker and less stable than the other ankle.

What causes ankle pain?
A sprain is the most common cause of ankle pain. Also, ankle pain can be caused due to:

• Arthritis, specifically osteoarthritis
• Gout
• Nerve damage or injury, such as sciatica
• Blocked blood vessels
• Infection in the joint

When to see a doctor about ankle pain?
A doctor must be consulted when you can't put weight on the ankle and the joint looks disfigured. This means that the ankle is broken. If the ankle makes a popping sound when it is moved, you should consult a doctor.

Long term solution for ankle pain:
A sprained ankle will mostly heal on its own. However, a sprained ankle is weakened and more prone to be sprained again. A severe sprain will require surgery. Osteoarthritis is considered as chronic and painful condition. Nothing can be done to completely eliminate the ankle pain associated with arthritis or keep it from returning.

How to prevent ankle pain?
Pain caused by medical conditions, such as arthritis, cannot be prevented. Still, the following can be done to avoid sprains and other lifestyle-related injuries to the ankles:

• Wear the type of shoes that fit well and provide ample ankle support.
• Avoid wearing high-heeled shoes
• Stretch the ankles and legs before exercising or any heavy physical activity.
• Always wear ankle support gear while doing activities that strain the ankles.
• Lose weight and be fit to reduce the stress on the ankles

Dr. Raju Easwaran, is the famous orthopaedic surgeon in New Delhi. He is very trusted in arthroscopy, joint replacement surgery and all orthopaedic related problem.

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Solutions For Shoulder Pain

Joint replacement involves surgery to replace the ends of bones in the damaged joint. This surgery will create new joint surfaces. In a shoulder replacement surgery, the doctors will replace the ends of the damaged upper arm bone and the shoulder bone or cover them with artificial surfaces lined with plastic or metal.

What to Expect After Surgery?
Right after the surgery, the patient will be administered with antibiotics and medicines to prevent blood clots. Most of the people go home after one or two days after the surgery. A physiotherapist will help with exercises to move the arm and to keep the shoulder loose.  Rehab will typically continue for up to three weeks after the patient leaves the hospital and will be continued until the patient is able to function more independently and has recovered as much strength, endurance, and mobility in the shoulder.

Why is it done?
Doctors recommend joint replacement surgery only when the shoulder pain and loss of function become severe or when medicines and other treatments no longer relieve the intense pain. The doctor will use X-rays to see whether the bones and cartilage in the shoulder are damaged and to make sure that the pain isn't coming from somewhere else.

How well it works?
Most of the people have experienced lesser pain after a shoulder replacement surgery and are able to do many of their daily activities more easily and comfortably.

• The shoulder will not move exactly the way it did before having shoulder problems. But, the surgery will allow the patient to do more of the routine activities without pain.
• After surgery, the patient may be allowed to resume sporting activities such as golfing, riding a bike, swimming, walking for exercise, dancing or any other sports.

Dr. Raju Easwaran, is best orthopaedic doctor in New Delhi, who has performed a lot of joint replacement surgeries. He is very trusted in arthroscopy, sports injury and all orthopaedic related problem.

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Play Well But Be Safe

Since sports and sports related activities gained international importance a  medical field has emerged along with this called sports medicine. Sports Medicine also called sports and exercise medicine is a branch of medicine that associated with the physical fitness and prevention of injuries in sports and exercise.

Some common sports injuries are :

• Muscle Cramps: When the muscles of our body undergo continuous contraction and cramps occur thus causes intense pain.
• Concussion: When brain undergoes continuous and furious movement inside the skull it causes nerve damage leading to a seizure-like situation.
• ACL Pain: Anterior Cruciate Ligament is the ligament that stabilizes the knee. When it gets twisted  it leads to intense pain in the knee area.
• Shin Splints: This happens when sharp pain occurs in the connective tissue surrounding the tibia and its adjacent areas. Its main symptoms include pain in leg between ankle and knee
• Ankle sprain : This occurs when ligaments hold the bones, stretches beyond its limits.

How to prevent sports injuries ?

• Wear helmets, pads and  other gear
• Warm up and cool down
• Know the rule of the game and play accordingly
• Avoid playing while your are injured
• Watch out for others

Sports injury treatment procedure:

Immediately after the injury  R.I.C.E ( rest, ice,  compress, elevate )  treatment is done. Even an after a day this should be continued. Within 72 hours most of the injury begins to heal. The patient should do regular exercises to ease the pain and increase movement. After a month symptoms like severe pain and swelling, deformities, crunching sounds, fever, breathing  trouble persists you should consult a doctor.  The doctor uses a combination of surgery, pills, and physiotherapy to treat the injury of the patient.

The hospital offers best Sports Injury Prevention in New Delhi with the help of dedicated team of doctors and other staff.

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Hip Arthroscopy in Delhi

The procedure of inspecting interior joints with a tiny 4 mm lens arthroscope is known as Arthroscopy. Incisions are made on the diseased joints for the diagnosis and treatment.

Hip arthroscopy is a surgical procedure to treat the problems in the articular cartilage, labrum , or other soft tissues that surrounds the diseased joints. The cause of problems in hip can be due to some injuries or due to certain orthopedic conditions.

Orthopedic conditions include:

• Dysplasia: In this situation the socket becomes shallow and the labrum become more sensitive to pull apart.
• Femoroacetabular impingement : Here the bone grow around femur head or socket and bone get damaged.
• Synovitis: This condition refers to the inflammation of the synovial lining.
• Snapping Hip Syndrome: The tendon gets damaged due to wear & tear or excessive damage.
• Loose bodies: loosely movement of some bone or cartilage fragments within the joint.

Procedure:

• A tension is made on the leg in order to get the surgeon an opportunity to observe the hip clearly and to insert the instruments properly.
• A small incision is made in the area of disease joint.
• Other incisions made for the insertion of other instruments.
• Diagnosis and treatment is done according to the situation.
• The duration of the procedure depends on the complexity of the disorder in the hip.

Advantage:

• Less pain
• Fast recovery
• Negligible blood loss
• Less chances of infection
• Usually done as a day care procedure.

Dr. Raju Eswaran an experienced orthopedics provides the Hip Arthroscopy in Delhi. Along with arthroscopy treatment he is expert in  various orthopedic treatments such as joint replacement, joint preservation, sports and exercise medicines. Quality services are given to  the patients in an affordable cost.  

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Arthritis Signs And Symptoms

What is arthritis?

Arthritis is an inflammatory disease of a joint. With arthritis, you will feel pain in the joints,  especially when walking. Sometimes the skin, located on aching joints, begins to redden and there is a fever. 

If one joint is inflamed, the disease is called monoartrit, and if the process involves several joints, then - polyarthritis. If you do not treat the disease, they will be amazed at all the articular tissues: the  cartilage, and its shell. The disease can occur suddenly, in this case, doctors say an acute arthritis,  and  evolve over time, progressing slowly (chronic arthritis).

Symptoms of Arthritis

Arthritis, as well as any other disease, has a number of symptoms.

Reactive arthritis is characterized by weakness and malaise. Since the disease manifests itself in the initial stage. Sometimes there are headaches, and body temperature can reach 38 degrees. Distinguish reactive arthritis may be the characteristic feature - leg joints are affected asymmetrically, and this  occurs after disappearing for nonspecific signs of illness. Parallel may appear symptoms of  inflammation of the urogenital system (burning sensation during urination) and conjunctivitis.

Rheumatoid arthritis is manifested in the fact that the joints are affected symmetrically. They  become swollen and inflamed. The pain will intensify at night, closer to awakening. In the afternoon, it almost completely disappears. In the early development of the disease people often saved from  unpleasant feelings by performing the exercise. The more the disease progresses, the less efficient  the process becomes. After the strike the small joints of arthritis, it will move to large, will form the characteristic knots. They are represented by small, dense formations, localized on the bend of the  joints. Throughout the illness the person will experience malaise, poor appetite, weakness. During  periods of exacerbation occurs fever. Sometimes join symptoms such as numbness in arms and legs, pain in the chest during breathing, inflammation of the salivary glands, as well as photophobia and  pain in the eyes.

Infectious arthritis is acute onset of characteristic signs of intoxication. The body temperature rises  to higher values, accompanied by chills, headache and muscle pain. Sometimes you may experience nausea, vomiting followed, but this feature is often characteristic of young children. The joint, which is struck by illness, swells, its shape changes. The pain is worse during movement, it may radiate to  the next location of the site. A man tries to take the position in which it is easier to tolerate the  discomfort. The skin is heated around the place where the diseased joint. If people have symptoms of blurred retirement age, the children they appear brighter. The disease develops rapidly.

Gouty attack often finds a man at night. To give impetus to the disease may or eating large amounts of meat or alcohol. In most cases, infestation first joint of the thumb is located on the leg. But  sometimes the disease affects the knee or elbow. To inflammation site can not be touched, as a  person experiences severe pain which is accompanied by swelling and reddening of the skin. The  body temperature is normal, the episode has passed as suddenly as it had begun. The total period of  the disease - a few days.

Psoriatic arthritis, it will disturb the following symptoms: a gradual progression of the disease,  swelling at the site of injury, local temperature rise. In skin and scalp spots appear, they are red, gives a person the discomfort of itching and flaking. Just parallel affected nail plates, they begin to split.  Suffer from this type of arthritis can any joint, but more often affected fingers. At the same time, they thicken and resemble sausages. Pain in the initial stages of the disease does not occur, and if it is  present, in the morning. 

Osteoarthritis is manifested in the fact that the joints begin to ache gradually as the disease progresses. Also, a characteristic feature is the crunch. It affects both the joints of limbs and spine.

Traumatic arthritis develops the type of osteoarthritis. The symptoms are the same - is pain,  swelling and crepitation in the place where the inflammatory process.

Consult a doctor

To take out arthritis form your life you must meet an orthopedic specialist. Let us introduce our  orthopedic specialist Dr. Raju Eswaran who is a well reputed orthopedic consultant in delhi.